Day 4: Morning

[wizardseason]

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: July 3rd - July 10th July 17th, 2019 ]

If any hero was expecting day four to be anything but absolutely bananas, they'd been living in a dream bubble. Fortunately for everyone, they wake up where they fell asleep the previous night. Unfortunately, though, everyone receives a decidely rude awakening at 6:06am.

An earthquake.

No part of the island is safe, everywhere and everything starts shaking and rumbling. Roads split, the train tracks bend, buildings fracture, buildings collapse...

...and bright, glowing blue fissures open up in the ground.

No city is safe from their new feature, but in every single city it's clear that the cracks are coming from a specific source. In Far Haven, the cracks lead west to Craydon. In Bamborough, the cracks lead east to Craydon. In Craydon, though, the cracks lead directly north up the mountain. They gradually narrow the further up the mountain you go, where do they end?

Heroes will, of course, not be able to immediately see this pattern. How are they going to find out about it? Social Media won't be buzzing about it until noon at the earliest!

But that won't be the only thing social media is buzzing about by noon. It looks like Web is nowhere to be found. A concerned local not a stalker reports the missing knight and there's quickly a deep discussion about it. Death? Ran away? Kidnapped? Abducted by aliens? No one knows. There's no body. There's nothing. Where'd Web go?

Fourth Morning Event: All Cities: The Quake.

---

The Weather

• Eerily still.
• 64°F / 18°C
• Despite the quake, there's a nice breeze.

---

Prompts:

• 6:06am Earthquake, Everywhere: Every town has fallen victim to an earthquake. The damage is unthinkable. Cars aren't moving anymore, roads and paths are obstacle courses, and everything inside has fallen over. It was a big one! Fortunately the citizens are out almost immediately to begin rescue and repair efforts. No matter where the heroes go, there'll be someone to help, something to do, or help to be offered. Do you need saving, or will you be saving others?


• 7:45am Train Station, Far Haven: Social media is going absolutely crazy. There's a MONSTER here! There's a monster in the train station!! Numerous pictures are posted of a Child-shaped monster with ten eyes instead of a face. Today, however, he's wearing a pair of black athletic shorts, some flip-flops, and a T-Shirt that says "I'm with Stupid" on the front and an arrow that trails around to the back of the shirt where it says "You're Stupid". At the train tracks, he's going one rail tie at a time repairing them to get the tracks straightened and fixed again. What's the deal???


• 08:00am International Cabin of Crepes, Bamborough: As if Social Media wasn't buzzing enough about the monster in Far Haven, it explodes again when the Wizard arrives at ICoC for breakfast. Several servers post that she asked for "the family table" and she invited all the knights and the princess to join her. Breakfast. Her treat. Anyone who comes to visit will find her sitting at the head of the biggest table, sipping a mug of coffee.


• 11:00am Mountain Base, Craydon: [Exploration] Several hikers have returned from up the mountain, reporting that they'd found "strange doors" blocking their path. According to the description they gave, it sounds like the doors can only be opened if one, or more, of the heroes make the climb up the mountain. The cracks go up past the doors, but there's an invisible wall all around the area that stops them from ascending any further. Whatever's going on up the mountain will need some heroic intervention to figure out. Good luck, heroes!

---

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Important: 'Exploration' toplevels will unlock additional information as items in their descriptions are explored. If your character explores a feature, write [Character explores ____] at the end of your tag and send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding that item.

Comments

[eutychia]

"That's the goal, babe. I'd like to have all the answers too, but all that matters is the end result." He sips his drink, finishing it and savoring the last bit before placing his glass back on the table.

"There's too much here that matters. If it means I don't get the whole truth, I don't care -- as long as everyone's still here."

[wizardseason]

Never change, Luka.

There's the soft sound of liquid pouring as his drink is refilled. It's, fortunately, another Mimosa. Fun fact: She can't get drunk, so she has no idea that these drinks could carry a risk like that. They just look bubbly and colorful.

And Four liked the ones with the umbrellas.

"Then you have two others you need to convince first."

[eutychia]

Luka tilts his head inquisitively. "Who would that be?"

He's already lifting his drink again while he waits for her response.

"I didn't know ICOC had such good service -- maybe it's because of who we are though." He muses aloud, taking another sip.

[wizardseason]

Off to the side, the waiter is immediately looking flustered about the good service. Does that mean a good tip? That mimosa wasn't from here, was there even a button for mimosa? Would the charge just be like... a large orange juice??? The waiter's got some shit to figure out.

"You'll meet one of them later today." She answers cryptically, before giving her mug a little swirl.

"And the other one is in your head, missing out on good service."

[eutychia]

"The Protector?" Luka blinks, lowering his glass.

"I thought he was on my side by default. Y'know, the side that's trying to save the world. Why would I need to convince him?"

[wizardseason]

"Because he's going to let the world end when he defeats me this year." She answers like it's the most obvious answer in the world.

"He rejects reality."

[eutychia]

"What?!" Luka nearly spits his drink. "Why. If he wanted the world to end he could just let it happen. I know you don't agree on what's best for the world, but until now my understanding was that he wanted to prolong its existence at any cost."

[wizardseason]

Even if Luka had spit his drink, the Wizard wouldn't have been hit with it. All's safe to spit-take here!

"He thinks he's saving it, that its destruction is a lie I've come up with." She takes a sip of her drink again.

"He thinks time will make the flames die out; instead it's just given them time to regain their strength."

[eutychia]

"So... the contract you made isn't valid anymore? I thought defeating you was supposed to buy us another year, per whatever agreement you all made way back when."

[wizardseason]

"All that does is take me out of the picture every year. Without me, there's no opposing votes. Just one versus two absent."

[eutychia]

"I see... so, after all the fanfare, you all vote? So he's not going to vote to save the world this year becaaaause.... he thinks the world ending is fake now? Because the world's calmed down or something? Stop me if I'm getting this wrong."

[wizardseason]

"He's going to vote to continue, they're going to vote to end it, and without me as a tie-breaker it all stops." She answers, watching him over.

"Because they haven't forgiven him for imprisoning them, or probably me either for going along with it for so long."

[eutychia]

"Wait, how do we know they're not going back in though?"

[wizardseason]

"You'll see, later today." She answers, cryptically, deflecting his inquiry. It would make more sense to see it.

[eutychia]

Luka's quiet, sipping his drink and clearly disappointed with that answer.

"Maybe we will. You're promising a lot today. I hope you're the type who keeps your promises."

[wizardseason]

"I try to be." She confirms, watching his quiet response to her answer.

"I hope I don't disappoint you."

[eutychia]

"I hope you don't, either." He says. "I know I'll probably disappoint you, though."

[wizardseason]

"Then don't." She counters, giving an amused little 'heh' after saying it.

[eutychia]

"I'm afraid it's not that easy. You and I both know there are complications to that. Like, the world ending, which I'm absolutely not for."

[wizardseason]

"I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work. You've handled tougher." As she says it, she doesn't back it up with any evidence. Is she saying it because she knows it's probably true or is she saying it because she actually knows it's actually true?

[eutychia]

Luka laughs. "Have I? Now, I'm not one to downplay my accomplishments but I think saving the world is just about the toughest thing to do."

[wizardseason]

"It's certainly tougher that letting it be destroyed. That's easy to do." She watches him, curious how he'll react to the grim reminder.

[eutychia]

"Naturally." He responds. "It's always easier to be on the side of evil."

[wizardseason]

"I'm glad we agree on that." She answers, waiting to see if he catches on that they are definitely not thinking about the same person in this moment.

[eutychia]

"So, you're on my side?" Luka raises an eyebrow. "Or do you admit you're evil?"